REFILE-Israeli tech firms to see unchanged level of capital in 2013

Reuters Staff

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TEL AVIV, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Israeli private high-tech firms are expected to raise about the same amount of capital in 2013 as in 2012 as foreign and corporate investors increase their activity, offsetting a decline in Israeli venture capital investment.

The Israel Venture Capital (IVC) Research Center said on Monday high-tech companies raised $1.92 billion in 2012 from local and foreign investors, down 10 percent from an 11-year high of $2.14 billion in 2011. The life sciences sector attracted the largest share of investments at $497 million.

Firms raised $494 million in the fourth quarter, up 5 percent from the third quarter but down 14 percent from the year-ago quarter, IVC, in cooperation with the Israeli office of consultancy KPMG, said in a report.

“While investment by Israeli VC funds is shrinking, foreign VCs as well as corporate and private investors are gradually increasing their activity,” said Koby Simana, chief executive of IVC. “As a result, I‘m optimistic about the high-tech industry’s chances of maintaining the current level of capital raising in the coming year.”

Israeli high-tech companies are key drivers of the economy, helping to spur growth of 3.3 percent in 2012.

Ofer Sela, a partner in KPMG’s technology group, said the Internet proved to be the most attractive sector as more than twice as many early-stage Internet companies were funded in 2012 than in 2011.

“Technology developments in recent years in both cloud-based infrastructure and content delivery platforms have enabled Internet companies to mature and develop their intended technology with greater capital efficiency than any other sector,” he said. (Reporting by Tova Cohen)